Defendant’s actions after release determined his sentence in what’s seen as rare plea deal
Man accused of murder gets chance to lessen his jail time
OAKLAND >> Nearly a decade after he was charged with murdering a 26-yearold man outside a Hayward apartment, a Bay Area resident was released from jail in a plea deal with Alameda County prosecutors, court records show.
But the plea deal for 41-year-old Diontay Shackelford didn’t quite end there. Shackelford pleaded no contest to manslaughter on Nov. 1 and walked out of jail that day, but for the next two months had the prospect of a decade in prison hanging over his head.
That’s because, in a rare move, prosecutors allowed Shackelford the chance to lower his sentence by nearly two-thirds. On Nov. 1, he was formally given 17 years in jail, with the understanding that if he didn’t get in trouble or miss a court date, the Alameda County District Attorney’s office would drop an enhancement, allowing Shackelford to be resentenced to six years, time he’s already served while in jail awaiting a resolution in his case.
At a sentencing hearing Jan. 10, the deal was made official. Shackelford showed up as agreed, and the extra 11 years were eliminated, court records show.
The deal closes a long, rocky criminal case that saw Shackelford go to trial twice, only to have the jury fail to reach a verdict both times. During his eight years at Santa Rita Jail in Dublin, Shackelford took pro se legal action claiming jail staff failed to treat his gum disease. In April 2020 he developed COVID-19 symptoms, leading to his attorney, Todd Bequette, filing court papers demanding Shackelford receive immediate medical care.
“Mr. Shackelford and I were both elated to bring the long saga of his prosecution to an end,” Bequette said in an email to the Bay Area News Group.
In November 2020, Shackelford wrote a letter that was published on the website for a pro-decarceration organization called Santa Rita Jail Solidarity, in which he said food at the jail was often inedible, impacting his health.
Shackelford was charged with murdering
Foster, who was visiting the Bay Area from Arkansas when he was gunned down around 10:45 a.m. Dec. 20, 2012, outside the Lord Tennyson Apartments near Hayward Medical Center. He died from a gunshot wound to the leg, prosecutors said.
A prosecution witness identified Shackelford as the man who pulled a Cobray shotgun from underneath a large coat and fired at Foster, adding that Shackelford said “what’s up” to Foster earlier in the day, and there appeared to be tension. Shackelford denied involvement in a police interview at his 2015 trial, the defense presented evidence that another person did the actual shooting, court records show.